BURREN VISITOR INFO ECO TOURSIM

Of the several hundred thousand people who visit the Burren every year, a high proportion are attracted primarily by the region’s pristine natural environment and rich heritage. Many of these visitors engage in outdoor activities such as hill walking, caving, rock climbing, cycling etc.

The popular and recently extended ‘Burren Way’ is a favourite route of many visitors, though many hillwalkers use lands outside of this route, often attracted by the vast archaeological heritage found in the area. The network of green roads and famine roads found in the Burren are also a great resource for the outdoor recreationalist. Other significant activities in the Burren include horseriding, fishing, shooting and a range of watersports.
   
The small villages of the Burren - particularly Ballyvaughan, Kilfenora, Carran and Doolin are heavily dependent on tourism, as are many rural households, particularly those who are involved in the provision of accommodation. Tourism is in turn reliant on these rural communities, as it is through their farming traditions that the quality of the natural and cultural landscape of the Burren - from orchid-rich grasslands to ancient field walls – is maintained.

Today, many of the farm families of the Burren are leaving the land, and this is a cause of some concern for the management of the region’s heritage. But can tourism, in particular nature-based tourism, help to maintain these communities and their heritage?
   
One of the objectives of Burrenbeo is to help promote the Burren as a haven for Ecotourism - 'ecologically and socially responsible nature-based tourism that fosters environmental appreciation and understanding' while contributing to the local economy.

The provision of physical and intellectual access to the landscape is the key to the development of a sustainable Eco-tourism industry in the Burren, as the well-informed and sympathetic visitor will be in a far stronger position to pursue activities that will support the communities of the Burren as well as respecting this fragile landscape.
   
In spite of the need to develop the Burren’s potential as an Eco-Tourism destination (as established in numerous reports on the region), little or nothing has been done thus far. While local walking guides and other service providers do operate in the region, there is no umbrella-structure to support the promotion or management of the Burren’s green tourism industry. In a nutshell, the story of eco-tourism in the Burren is one of so much potential, so little of it yet realized.

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